Kasmordo's Legacy

The Other 48 Days

The Fire Within - Part 2

25

MAR/12

Player Characters: Delben (Jerry), Ash (Liam)

Meanwhile, across the island, the tail section survivors are having a somewhat rougher time of it…(The title and this line are a Lost reference.)

Delben and Ash did go to Dymon ahead of time‭ (‬as mentioned‭ ‬previously) ‬and found the cave,‭ ‬but discovered nothing of interest beyond some primitive lightning-bolt shaped carvings.‭ ‬Finding the village much as the others had,‭ ‬they decided to explore the area while they waited instead of spending a lot of time in town.‭ ‬In the valley to the west,‭ ‬they found pastureland and several clear,‭ ‬strong springs,‭ ‬a marshy cove branching away on the north side,‭ ‬and a crumbling amphitheater.‭ ‬Turning back from the deeper woods farther into the valley,‭ ‬they explored the higher ground to the north.‭

Past a graveyard and an unfinished (abandoned) temple on the hill, they found a rocky crater with a pile of twisted, broken material. Much of it was charred, smoldering wood, but there was also a large amount of hard, greenish material with a smooth, glassy texture. The other stuff they found suggested that it was all from some kind of ship, although the fixtures were of an extremely ornate style that they had never seen.

Before they could explore any further, a squad of armed men led by a knight (or a very well-heeled mercenary) accosted them and demanded that they surrender for poaching treasure in Lord Mayor Elihu’s woods. Although tempted to fight their way out, the number of opponents and the ominous shadowy forms flitting around convinced them to surrender. Their stuff was taken and they were both dragged off to a cell with bags over their heads.

They woke up in a set of adjoining cells to the sound of a scuffle somewhere beyond the closed door to the block. After a few minutes, the commotion died down, giving Delben and Ash a chance to meet their cellmate, Talmon, a badly beaten githyanki warrior.

Talmon informed them that a “stardust wraith from outside the sphere” which he also referred to as a samandarun, had taken control of the town after first wreaking havoc on his ether-ship and crashing it nearby. It did this by taking over host bodies because it could not survive long in our reality without one. Taking the identity of a local named Zara, this creature had used spirits from beyond to manipulate and terrorize the natives while torturing Talmon for the location of his silver sword and his help in rebuilding the ether ship, neither of which he had so far provided.

Delben came up with a plan of escape in which he and Talmon pretended to be sick while Ash called for help. In response, the constable came in, grumbled, and left without opening or going near the cells, saying he was going to fetch the interrogator. Before he could return, however, a foppishly dressed young man entered. Both Dalben and Ash made a grab for him, but only caused him to stumble backwards into Talmon, who choked him unconscious, took his keys, and released the others.

After some scuttling about, (and a few whispers from the same voice Seren had heard, this time suggesting near-suicidal alternative escape plans) they figured out where they were and escaped to the woods north of town. There, they subdued a couple of the guards that were pursuing them (mercifully keeping them alive but somewhat less mercifully beating them unconscious) set up camp, and fought off some scavenging carrion crawlers in the middle of the night. The next morning, they made their way to the marshy hollow where Talmon had hidden his silver sword.

Although made somewhat reluctant by the feral glee in the githyanki’s eyes upon seeing his weapon, Delben handed the silver sword over to Talmon and they began planning their next move.